Nice try, but misses the mark. You've freed up the counter help to clean up after the slobs that eat there, the idiots that can't figure out how they got what they ordered instead of what they want, as well as keeping those screens clean. After the first of second time they have to close the doors during rush hour because the system crashes, they'll want back up. Real people will be cooking and serving the food, cleaning the place, repairing the monitors, etc. Meanwhile, they've sped up the ordering process.
Suggest each item be barcodes as the employees put the food in the bags. Scan in the items as they go in, and this will help eliminate people not getting the right order.
Those five screens you see are not five jobs eliminated, that's what two counter people handle, but usually only one person does to save money. Those counter people will be putting your orders together and bring them to you with a smile. Automation only goes so far.
But you focus on McDonalds. The self service phenomena is going throughout the retail industry. Many stores already have automated checkout. When was the last time the attendant pumped your gas?
And that's just at the consumer end. Factories? I just talked to a man that just got a raise at one of the big factories here. He got bumped up to $10.50 an hour. Think that won't cause his employer to reconsider what wages will be if they know any employee can make as much at McDonald's as they can sweating on an assembly line. Hell no.
Places where they've already raised the minimum wage have seen no major drop in employment. One company moves out, another company moves in. Why would they do that? Better workers.
In the 80 plus years that this country has had a minimum wage, the cry of jobs being lost is shouted, but interestingly enough, it seems more workers are needed to handle the influx of increased sales. Yes, even the increase in Chinese imports. More dock workers needed. More truckers. More warehouse personnel. The highest incidence of job losses occur when taxes are lowered, not raised.
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